Main » Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie says goodbye in his hometown

Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie says goodbye in his hometown

28 August 2016

"Farewell to Canada's greatest rock band", The Toronto Star newspaper said in a headline last Friday.

April 3, 2005: The Tragically Hip is inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards in Winnipeg.

And while Flank is skeptical that any Canadian band will reach the status that the Tragically Hip has achieved, Smyth said there might one day be another Canadian band that speaks to Canadian's like the Hip have. They came back for three encores before finishing with From High Up Above and Ahead By A Century.

September 30, 2012: "The Hip sets up shop at Kensington Market haunt Supermarket for four days" worth of shows to promote its 13th album, Now For Plan A.

Downie's own history of advocacy includes serving on the board of environmental group Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, as well as performing concerts near the region of James Bay to raise awareness of First Nation issues.

Downie singled out Trudeau for special thanks, telling him his presence, "really means a lot to us".

Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer in adults and one with an average survival of less than 15 months after diagnosis. What would you like to say to the band? The tour "feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us".

Puhallo noted the event was about far more than the music.

Those at the concert, which was broadcast live across Canada, experienced a whirlwind of feelings, with Downie, 52, breaking down in tears as he crooned his hit "Grace, Too" before departing the stage, according to the Washington Post.

With a delirious sold-out crowd at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ont., hanging on his every word - and countless more fans watching on TV at home or at public screenings - the Tragically Hip frontman delivered what many fear was his final performance.

With the help of a livestream from the Kingston amphitheatre where the Tragically Hip played their final show last night, Gord Downie managed to break just about every heart in Canada, not only with a massive 30-song, three-encore set, but with a message about how Canada must address its fraught relationship with First Nations. Viewing parties are planned across the country and amongst pockets of Canadian expats overseas.

The men's gold-medal hockey game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is considered to be the most-watched broadcast ever in Canada.